Tea Gardens at Huntington Library
After a lovely Sunday afternoon at the Hungtington Library Gardens with my friend Ashley, we met up with her roommate, Kaelin, at Pop Champagne Bar in Pasadena. While it's waaayy off the beaten path for South Bay folk and Westsiders (myself included), it is such a great find. It's definitely going to be my new recommendation for "girls' night out."
The restaurant itself is so fun in its design. It has a dark wood interior with plush oversized purple booths. The table tops are all shadow-box style, and they're filled with feminine little trinkets that are entertaining to look through while you're there.
Shadowbox Table Tops
The menu is completely affordable - no food over $20, and the entire backside of the menu is dedicated to desserts (20+ options). They also have happy hour on Sundays from 4-7PM with $4 mimosas/bellinis, $5 champagne of the day, and 20% off the beginning bites. AND -- if you follow them on Twitter -- you can ge their Speakeasy Sundays password. Basically, towards the end of the night on Sundays, they will pour any of their open bottles for $5 a glass with this password. Um, I wouldn't mind getting some Laurent Perrier or Veuve for $5, would you?
Blueberry Lavender Crepes and Churros with 3 Dipping Sauces
Since I was the only newbie (Ashley and Kaelin have been there half a dozen times), I sat drooling over the dessert menu for the first 10 minutes. Ashley and Kaelin swear that every dessert they've had there has been amazing. We decided to start with the Brie Toast with Chardonnay Soaked Raisins as a savory option. I was surprised because for some reason I expected the dish to be warm and gooey, but the cheese and raisins were (purposely) cold. It ended up being just right, and actually tasting more like a dessert then an appetizer. For our dessert picks, we settled on the Blueberry Lavender Crepes with homemade vanilla ice cream (special of the day) and the Churros with spiced warm chocolate, dulce de leche, and creamy stawberry dipping sauces. The crepes were lovely. The lavender really brought out the berry flavor in the fruit and the crepe itself was light and fluffy. But, for me, the churros stole the show. Nice and crispy on the outside, so soft and creamy on the inside. And it was rolled in sugar, for that fun granular texture. My favorite combo was dipping the churro in both the chocolate and dulce de leche together. Yum. Plus, it came with 5 churros, which is pretty good for only being $8.
33 E. Union St.Pasadena, CA 91103
(626) 795-1295
Twitter: PopChampagneBar
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